DA investigates identity in support case

Dauphin County President Judge Richard A. Lewis has ordered
a criminal investigation into the case of a Philadelphia man
who was forced to pay more than $12,000 in support for
another man's child.

Lewis reviewed the case of Walter Andre Sharpe Jr., who was
jailed four times for not keeping up with the payments,
after reading about his plight in The Patriot-News last
month.

He referred the case to Dauphin County District Attorney
Edward M. Marsico Jr. Marsico said his office has begun
looking into the case and there are no specific targets of
the investigation.

Dauphin County Domestic Relations has said in court papers
that it determined Walter Sharpe was the father "after
reasonable investigation."

It took The Patriot-News less than a hour to find the real
father, who said he had custody of the child Sharpe had been
supporting.

Walter Sharpe and his attorney, Tabetha Tanner, claim that
domestic relations "stole his identity" by
replacing his personal information with that of the real
father.

Problem began with letter:

In 2001, Walter Andre Sharpe signed for a certified letter
addressed to Andre Sharpe, who was named as the father of
the girl when her mother applied for welfare. The mother of
Andre Sharpe's child lived in Dauphin County at that
time.

Walter Sharpe ignored the letter, thinking it was a mistake.
A county judge ruled, as required by law, that Walter Sharpe
was the father when he failed to attend a support
conference.

A month later, Domestic Relations entered an order requiring
him to pay $447 a month for support along with $5,730 in
arrears.

After the agency started attaching Walter Sharpe's
wages at the trash-hauling company where he worked, he met
with officials in 2002 and showed them his identification to
prove they had the wrong man.

Instead, Walter Sharpe claims in court papers, an agent with Domestic Relations exchanged his personal information in the computer with that of Andre Sharpe. The agency has declined comment on the case, citing pending litigation....

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